QUARK CFO / BRET GODDARD, CPA, MT
Somebody who worries about your company while you do what you do.
Tax, accounting and business advisory for owner-led businesses doing $500K to $5M. Too big for DIY. Too small for a full-time finance team. I keep the numbers clean, current, and compliant - and have the conversations that actually move the needle.
FOUNDED BY
Bret Goddard, CPA, MT
WORKS WITH
Owner-led service businesses
SWEET SPOT
$500k - $5M revenue
You're great at the work. You're alone on the financial side.
Most owner-led businesses have the same four problems. None of them get solved by an accountant who shows up in April and disappears in May.
Your accountant disappears after tax season.
You hear from them in April. Maybe a 1099 reminder in January. The other ten months you're guessing - on quarterly estimates, on staffing, on whether you can actually take that draw.
The books are a black box.
QuickBooks is open. The numbers are in there somewhere. But nothing reconciles cleanly, the categories drift every month, and you can't tell a good month from a bad one without scrolling through a bank app.
You're paying more tax than you should.
Nobody is planning ahead. Entity structure, owner comp, retirement, equipment timing - the levers exist but nobody is pulling them. By the time the return is filed, the year is already locked in.
There's no one to think out loud with.
Hiring decisions, pricing changes, a new truck, taking on a partner. You're making six and seven figure decisions in your head, with nobody in your corner who actually knows what the numbers say.
Tax and accounting are the entry point. Advisory is the actual product.
Four ways I work with owner-led businesses. Most clients start with a Financial Foundation, then settle into a monthly engagement that fits the company.
01 / Foundation
Books and tax, handled.
Monthly financials you can actually read. QBO kept clean and current. Quarterly estimates that aren't a guess. Year-end filed without a fire drill.
- Monthly close and reconciliation
- QuickBooks Online maintenance
- Quarterly federal and state estimates
- Federal and state tax preparation
02 / Advisory
The conversation, monthly.
Everything in Foundation, plus a real review every month. Decisions in front of you instead of behind you. Tax planning, owner comp, pricing, hiring, cash.
- Monthly financial review call
- Proactive multi-year tax planning
- Owner compensation and entity strategy
- Pricing, staffing, and cash flow decisions
03 / Project Work
One specific thing, done right.
QBO cleanups, one-time tax strategy, an entity restructure, an exit-readiness review. Quoted per engagement. Often becomes a monthly engagement after.
- QuickBooks cleanup and rebuild
- One-time tax strategy and projection
- Entity structure review
- Pre-sale or pre-financing readiness
04 / Onboarding
Start with a Financial Foundation.
Two sessions. Entity structure reviewed, accounting reviewed, tax situation assessed, key deductions surfaced, plain-English roadmap. Converts to monthly.
- Entity structure and tax election review
- Accounting and books health check
- Deductions and missed opportunities
- Plain-English 12 month roadmap
The conversations clients actually want to have.
Not "where's my W-2." These are the calls owners make in their car on the way home, or at 9 PM after the kids go to bed.
Owner pay
Can I actually take this draw without blowing up my taxes?
Staffing
Can I afford another hire, and what does the math need to look like?
Entity
Should I be an S-corp yet, and what changes when I am?
pRicing
Why is revenue up by my bank account is flat?
tax
What can I do before December 31st to lower this year's bill?
Exit
What does this business need to look like before I can sell it?
Three steps. No long sales process.
We don't do RFPs, decks, or six discovery calls. You'll know within a week whether this is a fit.
01
A 30 minute call.
You tell me about the business. I tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit, and what I'd do first if I were you. No deck.
02
Onboarding.
Two working sessions. We review entity, books, and tax position, surface the obvious wins, and produce a written 12 month roadmap.
03
Monthly engagement.
You roll into Foundation or Advisory. Books stay current, taxes stay handled, and we have the conversations throughout the year instead of every April.
Three ways to work together. The middle one is the actual product.
Flat monthly fees. No hourly billing. Cancel any time, no lock-in or long-term contracts.
Foundation
Tier 01- Monthly reconciliation and financials
- QuickBooks Online maintenance
- Quarterly tax estimates
- Year-end federal and state tax prep
- One check-in call per quarter.
The Advisor
Tier 2- Everything in Foundation
- Monthly financial review call
- Proactive multi-year tax planning
- Owner compensation strategy
- Decision support: staffing, pricing, cash, exit
Project Work
Tier 03- QuickBooks cleanup or rebuild
- One-time tax strategy
- Entity restructure
- Pre-sale or pre-financing prep
- No monthly commitment
Bret Goddard
I work with small business owners who are really good at what they do, but completely alone when it comes to the financial side of running a business. Most of them have an accountant who shows up in April and disappears in May.
What they actually need is someone to think out loud with, who also makes sure the IRS doesn't ruin their year. That's what I do. I'll handle the dirty work - keeping the numbers clean, current, and compliant. But the conversations I look forward to are the ones about making more money and sending less of it to Uncle Sam.
CREDENTIALS
CPA, Master of Taxation
FOCUS
Owner-led services businesses
NOT A FIT FOR
Startups, crypto, W-2 only tax returns.
No pitch deck. No drip campain. One reply from Bret.
Drop me a message. You'll hear back within a business day with two or three honest questions and a time to talk if it makes sense.